Euronews

Brazil’s President has sworn-in members of a Truth Commission, who will investigate human rights abuses committed during the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship.

However, the inquiry falls short of calls for abusers to face justice. An amnesty law means there will be no prosecutions.

“Brazil deserves the truth, the new generations deserve the truth and, above all, those who lost friends and relatives deserve the truth and the facts,” said President Dilma Rousseff, herself a former political prisoner.

It is believed as many as 20,000 people were tortured during the junta period, often through the use of electric shocks and chemicals.

Around 500 Brazilians are said to have “disappeared” or been killed.

Although there will be no criminal trials, those behind the abuses will be publicly named and shamed.